


The Detective and his Little Assistant

by Conner_Issah_Grace



Category: Persona 5
Genre: Akechi Goro Lives, M/M, Polyamory, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-21
Updated: 2019-02-21
Packaged: 2019-11-01 16:17:33
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,508
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17870558
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Conner_Issah_Grace/pseuds/Conner_Issah_Grace
Summary: Even with all Goro Akechi's popularity, naturally good looks, and even charm, making friends has never been easy. Honestly, it was already almost the end of his second year before an underclassmen, by the name of Kaito Sasaki reached out to him, allowing a friendship to bloom, maybe even something deeper.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, Author speaking. This is a Persona 5  fanfiction for Goro Akechi x a Male! OC. I you don't like boy x boy or don't think the lovable young detective doesn't have enough of a heart to care for someone else (like my S/O) then please simply go to another story without leaving any nasty comments, thank you. Also I don't know how fast my updates are going to be, though I will give explanations for any long breaks. 
> 
> This story will also be published on Tumblr (username katchzen) and Wattpad (username Marvelgirls11)
> 
> Also, a shoutout to a new author friend on wattpad, Rainynightsky, their a really good writer, and actually helped me some with this story, so go read some her stuff too :). 
> 
>  
> 
> Now, onto the story.

Chapter 1: Caught in the Act

*Akechi's P.O.V.*

It was Sunday the twelfth of June, just two days after my rather successful interview. I was heading to the entrance of my cram school until someone caught my attention. A boy about 6 inches shorter than me, fidgeting while seeming to be looking at his phone. Noticing the fluffy, shoulder-length ponytail, colored midnight with a couple vibrant ginger highlights, Sasaki Kaito-kun, an underclassman, and pretty much the only person I'd really call my friend. I quickly walked towards him, seeing how nervous he looked, but stopped dead in my tracks when I noticed what was on his phone screen...the somewhat familiar red and black background of the Phansite...for the Phantom Thieves. I looked closer, well, as close as I could without moving any closer to him, and realized he was putting in a request. I quickly pulled out my own phone and checked the time, since the requests on the Phansites actually had time stamps. _‘I’ll look into it later, but why didn't he ask me for help first?’_ I think, before I hear him turn around and caught him hiding.

"H-hi Akechi-senpai." He greets, now holding his phone behind behind his back.  


_'He's still so formal'_ I think with a sigh, looking from my phone to him, his black bangs as fluffy as his ponytail with a highlight running down the edge of them still covered the right side of his caramel-latte colored face. Purple-rimmed glasses framed his visible left eye that was grey, flecked with silver, and always reminded me of a restless storm. His glasses rested upon his cheekbones, which were densely coated in freckles.   


"How many times do I have to tell you, you can call me Goro, Kaito-kun?" I ask with a small smile.

 

*Kaito's P.O.V.*

I felt someone's presence behind me just as I finished putting the request on the Phansite to change the heart of a bully in the school. I turned around quickly to see Goro Akechi-senpai looking at his phone, and immediately hid my phone behind my back, hoping he hadn't seen what I was doing.

"H-hi, Akechi-senpai." I smile, hoping my nervousness didn’t bleed through.

Akechi sighs, looking up from his phone to me. "How many times do I have to tell you, you can call me Goro,  Kaito-kun?" He asks with a small smile.

"R-right, sorry Goro-senpai." I smile, a little embarrassed that I keep forgetting that.

"Anyway, you seem nervous, is something bothering you?" He asks kindly, though his voice laced with a touch of worry.

"Oh, um it's nothing, just rumors that Samaki-sensei is gonna do a pop quiz tomorrow mainly on the dates of events." I lie looking to the side, scratching the back of my head, _'I know I should tell him, and I hate lying to him, but he's already got so much on his plate, school, his case, and even interviews. I don't wanna be a nuisance and put any more on him and possibly overwork him'_ I think as the lie leaves my lips, trying to justify it to myself.

"Oh, ok, you've always seemed to have troubles with dates in history, combined with your apparent test anxiety you continue to have, no matter how many you pass." He smirks. "However, I'm supposed to head straight to the Detective Agency after school, want to walk to the bus station together?" He smiles

_'Wait, he bought that? He always catches me in my lies... well, I won't question it'_ I think in surprise, before nodding in response to his question.

"Well, let's go then." He smiles

"MMhmm." I smile with a nod as we head to the station, talking about parts of our school day.

***

*Akechi's P.O.V.*

I was currently waiting on Sae Niijima-san, and decided to look at the Phansite to see what Kaito-kun requested so I pulled out my phone and went to the site. Luckily, since not many people seemed to believe they actually existed, there weren't many requests, so I quickly found the time block I was looking for. After skimming over a few I found the one I was looking for, or at least I hoped it was, it was the only one dealing with Aoyama High School after all. The request read:

**"Um, hi, you seem to be real so please help, there's a bully at Aoyama High School, Yuno Takeya, she's a third year who blackmails and intimidates students into doing things for her, mostly dealing with schoolwork and cheating on tests, but she also verbally berates, or well, bullies students if they don't do as she says, or it isn't up to her standards, or sometimes if she's just in a bad mood. She occasionally physically bullies students, but not in obvious ways...I guess, let's just say she's not called the queen of volleyball and dodgeball for nothing..."**

I growl left my lips before I could bite it back, the grip on my phone tightening considerably, it was definitely Kaito-kun who wrote this. _'He's been slightly more skittish and jumpy the past few weeks, I can't believe I passed it off as nothing!'_ I silently berate myself, punching the home button on my phone with my thumb, and angrily shove it in my pocket. Pinching the bridge of my nose with my index finger and thumb as my brows knit together in anger and concern. _'Why didn't he tell me...?'_ I wonder, trying to think of a reason, missing the sound of clicking heels nearing me, as I focus on Kaito-kun's behavior recently. I think for a few moments before chuckling slightly.

"Idiot." I murmur softly, meaning both Kait-kun and myself, he always tried to stay out of everyone's way and not be a bother or burden to anyone, and I'd complained about my workload shortly after he'd become more skittish.

"Ahem?" Someone next to me clears their throat, causing my head to snap up and, to my shock, see Niijima-san next to me.

"Mind telling me what's on your mind? I've been standing here for 5 minutes." She smirks

"Really? I'm sorry Niijima-san, it's nothing. Let's get to work." I respond with my normal false cheeriness and smile, and she bought it, just like everyone does…. Well, almost everyone


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: The investigation Begins

Monday, June 13th

*Akechi's P.O.V.*

As I got to my platform looking for Kaito-kun, I saw someone I wasn't expecting to, the boy from the interview. 

"Fancy seeing you here." I smile, slipping into my Detective Prince act, catching his attention. "I didn't think we used the same station. Meeting here must be fate." I continued, joking slightly, before hearing the sound of running footsteps closing in behind me, I had a good idea who it was.

"Gor-Oh, uh, hi, Akechi-senpai." Kaito-kun smiles, though now looking to the ground.

"This is Sasaki Kaito-kun, my underclassmen by year and a friend." I smile in explanation, knowing it'd be near a miracle to get Kaito-kun to talk to someone upon first meeting them.

"Kurusu Akira." The boy answers with a smile.

Kaito's head lifts slightly,  _ 'so he did watch the interview' _ I think, knowing my friend recognized the boy's voice  _ 'seriously, it takes him a month to remember a name, but two sentences in an interview to be able to recognize a voice'  _ I think, stifling a chuckle.

"Anyway, how are you?" I ask Akira

"Not bad." Akira responds

"That's a good answer." I smile. "...I've been getting interviewed a lot lately, so I've been wondering how to answer such questions...I guess it's best to simply be yourself and say what you think. You've given me much to consider." I smile, wanting to speak more to the interesting boy before hearing something like a stifled snicker from the younger student next to me. Resisting the urge to snap a snarky comment at my underclassmen, I turn my attention back to Akira. "If it isn't too much trouble, may I speak with you again sometime?" I ask, Akira nods, and with that, we get on our trains.

*Kaito's P.O.V*

Akechi and I found seats on the train and sat down.

"So you watched the interview?" Akechi-senpai asks

"Of course I did." I smile, thinking  _ 'you were in it' _

"You're quite odd, it takes you a month to remember a name, 5 minutes to be able to recognize a face, and two sentences in an interview for a voice." He chuckles. "Also, mind telling me what that little snicker was for?" He asks, a playful scolding lacing his tone.

"Oh, like I'm the only odd one, you got one sentence out of the boy and it seemed to inspire how you did some stuff for interviews or was it also what he said in the interview a couple days ago?" I smirk, raising a brow and crossing my arms

"I guess you have a point when you put it that way." The young detective chuckles. "Though, speaking of the interview, I'm curious, what's your opinion on the Phantom Thieves?" He asks, making me freeze a little, before looking to my lap, thinking of how to word my answer, not knowing if he'd like it. 

"If they are real, they seem to be going after only criminals the police don't have the intel, or possibly resources to go after themselves so far." I answer, looking at my lap.

"But, if they can change hearts, by force no less, isn't there a possibility they could've made the supposed criminal fabricate these crimes?" Akechi-senpai asks, looking at it from multiple angles, as any good detective would.

"I thought about that too." I say, looking to him. "It takes some digging, but there's been rumors going back years, from shortly after one of Madarame's pupils committed suicide and shortly after the first time someone under Kamoshida's teaching ended up in the hospital." I explain, causing Akechi-senpai to sit back in his seat, holding his chin in his hand.

He sighs annoyedly, staying quiet with a faintly annoyed expression. "You do have a point, you could be right." He admits, albeit, seemingly reluctantly. 

"Though, we still need to know their methods, not only to see if they’re violent or illegal but also to see if they're usable in the medical world too." I admit, though also putting in another possible outcome. "If you can truly use it to change people's hearts, maybe it can be used to help treat mental disorders, like PTSD, bipolar disorders, depression, and so much more, it might be able to be used to help these people lead normal lives." I smile hopefully, before looking down, remembering one person in particular,  _ 'maybe, just maybe, it could even help Fu-chan' _

*Akechi's P.O.V.*

_ 'How do I keep forgetting how thorough that boy is when his goal is to help or he's trying to point something out?' _ I think as I sigh annoyedly, as much as I didn't want to admit it, Kaito-kun had a point, and at least he wasn’t condescending like the the adults or anymore shy around me than anyone else. "You do have a point, you could be right." I admit after a couple moments.

"Though, we still need to know their methods, not only to see if they’re violent or illegal but also to see if they're usable in the medical world too." He admits, though that last bit sparking my curiosity, looking to him, watching a smile grow on his face as he continued. "If you can truly use it to change people's hearts, maybe it can be used to help treat mental disorders, like PTSD, bipolar disorders, depression, and so much more, it might be able to be used to help these people lead normal lives." Once Kaito-kun finished, he had a smile even I rarely saw, so bright and kind it could bring warmth and light to a room suffering a black in a blizzard.

"Hmm, I hadn't thought of that before, though we'd still need to learn their methods before that possibility." I admit, looking down, my hand going to my chin, before looking back to him, and noticing he was looking down and his smile faltered slightly  _ 'wait, is there someone in specific he-' _ my thought was cut off as Kaito-kun quickly stood up.

"Well, we're at our stop, let's go before we're late." He smiles.

I stand up and head out, Kaito-kun following close behind, though realizing with a bitten back chuckle  _ ‘of course he’d think about  _ **_helping_ ** _ other people first, even if he had someone specific, not  _ **_using_ ** _ a power like that for his own gain’ _ .

***

I was currently finishing up a worksheet in class, and it took every ounce of self-control not to go and confront **her** . The bully, Yuno Takeya, was three seats behind me, and to make it that much more frustrating, I knew she was a rather big fan of mine. She'd been one of the first to teach me how to tune out loud and annoying fans when I needed to do anything more important. I heard the leather of my glove strain as my hand curled into fist thinking of her targets, due to her manipulativeness and probable jealousy, Kaito-kun was definitely a main target, due to his timidness and connection to me. As much as I wanted to drag her into an empty room and interrogate her till she told the truth, I needed to handle this far more tactfully  _ 'and legally' _ than that  _ 'I could go after her-no!' _ Kiato would never forgive himself once that was finished since he put in a request. An irritated sigh left my lips as I finished the worksheet, trying to figure out how to go about this before the perpetrator in question perked up.

"Um, does someone have a pencil I can borrow?" She spoke up, sounding embarrassed.

A small smirk pulled at my lips as I was sure there was a bit of a sly glint in my eye as I pulled a pen out of my pocket, pushing down on the clip, changing my face to that practiced smile as I heard a faint click. "I don't have a pencil, but I do have this, Takeya-chan." I smile, getting up and heading back to her.

"It'll do perfectly Akechi-kun, thank you." She smiled, taking the pen. 

"Please be a little careful with it, it was a gift." I smile,  _ 'though if it weren't for the fact I need evidence, I'd never let you touch it' _ I think, somehow managing to keep to smile. It'd been a gift from Kaito-kun for my last birthday, a voice recording pen, you could turn it on simply by pushing down on the clip, and of course, it wrote like a normal pen too.

"Of course, and thank you again, Akechi-kun." She smiles sweetly.

"No problem, and you can return it at the end of our last class today, okay?" I smile back, surprised no could could see through the plastic fakeness of it. 

"Mhmm." She nods with a smile.

At that moment the bell rang, signaling for us to go to lunch, I quickly turned to give my work to the teacher and head out, wanting to be out of that wretch’s presence.

"That's all for today, turn in your work and don't forget you're homework is due Wednesday." The teacher announces.

I head out with a smirk, even though I'd probably want to wash the pen after I got it back, but I should definitely get some solid evidence. 

 

*Kaitos P.O.V.*

I was waiting in the lunchroom, waiting for Akechi-senpai. Noticing Takeya-senpai coming in, I look down at the table, though happy knowing Akechi-senpai wouldn't be far behind.

"How many times have I told you not to wait for me to start eating?" I hear Akechi-senpai above me, making me jump slightly, before looking up to see him standing over me, a faintly scolding look in his eyes.

"But, I like eating with Ake- Goro-senpai, and I wasn't even waiting ten minutes." I smile sheepishly, he sighs and its next to me.

"So you're finally remembering you can call me by my first name?" He smirks, the scolding look in his eye fading as he sat next to me.

"Trying at least, and it seems you've got something for a case?" I smirk in response, recognizing that sly-but-happy glint in his eyes.

He blinks in shock. "How can you tell?" The detective inquires.

"It's in your eyes, plus, you tend to be a little irritable after that class, and today your not." I smirk proudly in response.

"I tend to forget how observant you are." He chuckles. "Yes, I got something for a case, now, let's eat." He smiles.

"Ok." I smile, opening my bento and taking out my chopsticks.

***

After eating, we talked about how our classes were going so far, though Akechi-senpai didn't mention the case he got something for, which was a little odd.  _ 'maybe he just doesn't wanna jinx it before his idea pans out'  _

"So, do you know if you've got free time after school?" I smile, hoping we could do something, but knowing it was unlikely.

"No, the director wants me at the agency asap after school." He sighs, shaking his head.

"Oh, ok. Hopefully, you've got something good for the case so maybe they'll give you a day off." I offer hopefully.

"Ha! As soon as I finish one case they throw me on another." He laughs with a tired sigh.

"What?! But that's so not fair, you're still a high school student, they should know you need breaks." I insisted  _ 'if they don't give him breaks I'll march in their myself and-' _

"Don't." Akechi-senpai sighs, cutting off my thoughts.

"Hmm?" I question innocently, pretending he hadn’t just read my thoughts written on my face.

"I know what you're thinking, if I need a break that badly I'll ask for one myself." He sighs

"I don't trust that, you overwork yourself." I argue, crossing my arms.

"Look who's talking, how many times have I found you passed out with books were studying in the library?" He sighs, glaring slightly at me

"Takes a workoholic to know a workoholic." I retort, knowing we weren't exactly that bad, but it fit for the moment.

"Don't do it." He nearly orders, glaring at me a little worse.

"Then ask for breaks when you need them in an actually healthy manner." I continue.

I wasn't wasn't sure if I had actually annoyed him with how harsh his glare was, but I seemed to have pinned him down, seeing as he opened his mouth to say something then closed it a couple times. The bell rang, signaling the end of lunch, and Akechi-senpai sighed, closing his eyes.

"Well, we'd better head to class." He smiles, the glare in his eyes gone, making me relax slightly.

"See you after school." I smile, getting up along with him.

"See you." He smiles as we head to our classes.

***

It was the end of school and I was headed to my locker, which happened to be next to Akechi-senpai's, though something seemed a little off. Takeya-senpai hadn't singled anyone out in pe, and actually seemed nice when she got one of her victims for help with her homework, and I wasn't even who she asked. It was seriously freaking me out, I was trying to figure it out when I noticed my locker  _ 'nope, nevermind, nothing's wrong her and she hasn't changed in the slightest yet'  _ I thought with a sigh at all the notes taped to my locker door. The notes had shit like  _ fag, freak, loser _ , then one pissed me off  _ you're lucky we're not dealing with Salem trails stupid witch!  _ I growled, and tore all the notes off, throwing them into the trash can. My hands were curled into fists, as I held my jaw tight to keep from growling before I felt a stinging on my right hand, and looked at it.

"Shit." I hissed, realizing I'd torn the notes off fast enough to cut my fingers some on vent thing on the locker, I quickly went to wipe the bit of blood off the vent things before Akechi-senpai saw  _ 'he's got enough things to worry about, he doesn't need me on top of all that' _ I think, cleaning the vent thing and putting the combination in my locker.

"Kaito-kun." I heard Akechi smile from a little down the hall.

_ 'Speak of the devil..'  _ I think with a small smile, quickly putting my right hand in my pocket. "A- Goro-senpai." I smile, opening my locker  _ 'it's still gonna take a bit to get used to calling him by his first name'  _ I think with a small smile, noticing he was holding the pen I got him for his birthday, making me smile wider.

After we got what we needed from our lockers, we walked to the bus talking about our day and I went home while he went to work.

  
  



	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Warning spoilers if you haven't gotten through 6/13 in the game*  
> A/N-Before the chapter starts, I want to explain a couple things. First, I chose to make Kaito a witch because I identify myself as a witch, and yes, I do mean witch, not warlock, because witch is, in fact, a gender-neutral term, also due to me being a witch, everything Kito does involved with witchcraft will be based off my own experiences, knowledge, religion and opinions, so please don't tell me I'm wrong unless you can cite a reliable source for your info. Second, for those reading this, who don't know Japanese culture very well, calling someone by their first name without an honorific (-san, -kun, -chan, ect.) unless you know them very well, or they've given you permission, is highly offensive. Please remember these for future chapters :) .  
> Now to the story.

Chapter 3: The Plot Thickens

Monday, June 13th, After School

*Akechi's P.O.V*

I was listening to the audio data from the pen I downloaded to my phone on the way from the station to work. I was quite happy to see that it hadn't been accidentally turned off throughout the day, despite the likelihood for it to have. I was actually skipping past a bit that seemed to be a personal conversation between her and her friends, though I seemed to be the topic of their talk. If it weren't for my current opinion of Yuno, I might've even blushed at the direction the discussion was going, however, I was disgusted and just trying to get past it.

"Finally." I sigh, getting past it, not surprised that it took up all of lunch. Listening as she head's to pe.  **"Hmm, who should I ask for** **_help_ ** **on my homework today?"** She either wonders aloud or asks her friends, judging by the steps I heard around her. Her friends offered up names. I quickly realized all the names were all from the top 10 students in the first and second years,  _ 'but most of those kids would never-oh, yeah, blackmail' _  I think, my gritting my teeth.  _ 'Wait, thinking about it, not even Kaito-kun would've taken this lying down, so what's she got on him that he doesn't want me to know?' _  I knew it as a little self-centered to think I'm the only one who mattered, but it Kaito had in fact told me that my opinion was the only one that mattered to him, and the teachers would never believe any bad rumors about him since he was the star student of nearly every class he was in. He also never cared what any of the students around him thought of him, except, after we became friends, for me. In fact, a couple months after we became friends and before I knew he considered himself a witch by his religion, a kid that that seemed to a rather bad opinion of Kaito-kun and said something about my friend cursing him or something like that. Kaito-kun seemed to not have even heard him, but then froze quickly looked to me, fear flashing through his eye like lightning before he hid it. I realized later he’d been worried about my reaction and trying to hide it. I'd ended up asking if he'd cursed our fellow student, and he'd replied he never cursed anyone, I'd then asked why out of curiosity, and he'd told me it was because cause he was selfish, and since he believed in karma, he didn't want the negative energy of a curse coming back to bite him later.

I felt an earbud pulling me out of my ear, snapping me out of my small trip down memory lane.  **"Oh don't worry, I've got something** **_special_ ** **planned for-"** I heard through the other earbud as I paused the recording, knowing I'd have to relisten to it later after, hearing an annoyed sigh next to me that I knew belonged to Sae-san.

"Oh, sorry Sae-san. I got lost in thought it seems." I say with a practiced sheepish smile, pulling out the other earbud.

"I hope you know you were so lost in thought you nearly walked into the door." She smirks teasingly. "Maybe you should keep the music for your work-outs only."

"Guess so." I chuckle, remembering the few hours of music Kaito-kun had given for my birthday as well, that I'd put on my phone and started listening to during my early morning runs, and noticing I’d been only a couple steps from walking into the door.

"Well, let's go in then, we've got cases to get to." She smiles.

"Indeed." I smile, opening the door for her.

"Always the gentleman, thank you." She sighs with a smile, walking in.

"Of course, you're welcome." I smile, following in after.

***

Deciding not to listen to the recording until I got to my apartment, considering how I nearly walked into a door the last time I listened to it on my way somewhere. I was heading back to my apartment in the evening light, hoping Kaito-kun had actually taken the advice of my pre-scheduled messages telling him to go to bed…. even if I wasn't following my own advice. I smile, remembering where my mind had wandered before Niijima-san, and how it had ended. My mind started to drift back down memory lane, remembering how after he'd explained why he didn't curse people, he told me he'd actually reported the student for harassing a female classmate. He ran off to the bathroom after telling me that and it took a little while, however, over the next three days the problem student kept having the worst luck. One of the biggest scenes that spread around the school like wildfire, was the when girl he'd been harassing, who was actually quite sweet and quiet for the most part, slapping him across the face before admitting he'd been harassing her, causing him to get suspended. When he came back, he ran towards Kaito-kun and I at lunch, nearly falling on his face in the process, and yelled about Kaito-kun cursing him again, my friend seemed completely surprised and a little lost. Though after he left a sly smirk pulled at Kaito-kun's lips. 

"I don't curse people, but I can enhance one's karma." He smirked under his breath, causing me to look at him questioningly.

"So, you had something to do with this?" I asked, though not quite believing he could.

"I'd like to think so. I mean, I did use a spell to make all he's done come back to him three times three." He smirked, snapping his fingers while saying the last word, the problem student tripping over his own feet and falling at the same time, causing his smirk to grow. "I was gonna leave it at the report and try helping the girl, but...he just kept pushing." He sighs.

I learned two things that day; 1: don't piss off the witch; 2: Kaito-kun wasn't all rainbows and shy smiles like I'd seen till that point and I'd even started putting a little more stock in mysticism and such. "I could report you." I smirked, mostly curious to see how he'd react, though not quite sure how that'd go. His reaction surprised me, his face fell slightly, though he tried to hide it as he looked down to his food and started playing with it rather than actually eating it. I'd expected him to just laugh it off, as he did with most things.

"I'd like to see how that goes down, with your rep, it might actually go a bit differently than the 20 or so other accusations." He smirked, though his voice was a little harsh.

"I-I said could, not would." I quickly stated, trying to back peddle out of this point in the conversation.

He’d pinched the bridge of his nose with an annoyed sigh. "Sorry, I'm overreacting, but you wouldn't be the first to report if chose to." He murmured.

"That's a bit obvi-"

"I meant the first I considered a friend to do so." He specifies with a sigh, making me freeze, realizing what the statement meant,  _ 'he's...used to being betrayed, so when the possibility of it happening comes up, he immediately goes on the defensive' _

***

I went straight to my computer after locking my door, hooking my phone up to it so I could better analyze and actually edit the recording so I could only keep what was actually important and discard what wasn't,  _ 'like the first disgusting 30 minutes _ ' I think, deleting that time from the file. Starting back at the beginning of Yuno's talk with her friends.  **"Hmm, who should I ask for** **_help_ ** **on my homework today?"** I knew whoever she asked for help, probably didn't have an actual choice They talked for a few minutes, before settling on a female student who was 2nd place to Kaito-kun in his class, however one of the other friends piped up.  **"What about Kaito?"** I froze, my worries confirmed that he was a target. I could feel my jaw tighten at the insult of them using his first name, especially without an honorific.  **"Oh don't worry, I've got something** **_special_ ** **planned for Kaito today."** Yuno  _ giggles _ , the rest joining her. My hand starts curling into a fist  _ 'what the hell did you do?!' _ I mentally growl before skipping past, and deleting most the silence of the pe class until I heard Yuno talking to the girl she chose for  _ helping _ with her homework. Judging by the girl's voice, I was right in assuming her victims at least don't feel like they had a choice in helping her. While she was heading to her next her next class, she told her friends about taping notes to Kaito-kun's locker  _ 'so that's why he seemed a little off after school' _ I think, feeling the leather strain around my fist. Skipping past and deleting her silent work, stopping when I heard them starting on the notes for his locker, saying what they wrote mostly stupid shit, that had me grinding my teeth and wanting to punch them like  **'fag', 'looser', 'freak',** then I barely stopped my fist from hitting the desk with the last one,  **"** _ you're lucky we're not dealing with Salem trails stupid witch" _ . Forcing my hand to relax as I buried my head in my hands, knowing if I hadn't been wearing my gloves, my fingernails would be digging into my scalp right now as they continued.

"If that  _ bitch _ used my pen to write  _ that _ ." I hissed, ending with a growl that many might've described as murderous as I continued listening, not even wanting to think about what else they might’ve done to him.

**"Why not just go ahead and tape a picture of a vase of flowers to his locker Yuno-chan?"** One of the friends  _ snickered _ .  **"I can't do that, Kaito might freeze long enough for Goro-kun to see, or he might actually tell."** Yuno  _ giggled _ .

_ *SLAM* _ my hand hits the desk hard enough I might have actually bruised it hearing that. " _ Do _ .  _ Not _ .  _ Use _ .  _ My _ .  _ First _ .  _ Name _ ." I growled, wishing she could hear venom dripping from every word, wishing I could throttle both of them for that considering doing something like that was a way of telling someone to  _ kill  _ themselves.

"Why didn't you use his pen?" One of the friends smirk, causing me to sigh in relief. "Cause if he manages to find out, he'll never forgive me." Yuno sighs. 

_ 'Oh-ho-ho, we're way past no forgiveness bitch' _ I think with a dark chuckle, getting the last bit of evidence and wishing I had a punching bag in my apartment, as I get up and head to the bath to try and calm myself down enough to go to sleep.

 

*Akira's P.O.V*

I had just got back to Lablanc after talking with everyone at the dinner, Makoto-san, third-year, and the student council president had figured out who the phantom thieves were. 

"You're back-whoa, you look tired. Long day?" Sojiro-san asks from behind the counter.

_ 'You have no idea'  _ I think with a sigh, nodding my head to my caretaker while I was on probation. "Your day any better?" I ask, deciding to strike up some conversation.

"If slow is better, then yes." He says with a slight smirk.

"Heh, well then, guess I'll head up." I say, not having much else I could say to him.

"Actually..." Sijiro perks up slightly. "Do any students from Aoyama use the station as you?"

"Uh, yeah, Akechi Goro, we actually talked a little this morning too." I say, though figuring that wasn't who he was wondering about.

"No one else?" He asks, trying to seem disinterested...and failing.

I thought for a moment, before remembering the smaller boy that ran over to Akechi-senpai. "Yeah, actually, a boy, around my age, but a bit shorter." I answer, I definitely had Sojiro-san's attention, even if he was trying to hide it. "Akechi-senpai introduced him...Sasaki, Sasaki..." I trailed off, trying to remember his first name.

"Sasaki Kaito, he's short and rather shy?" Sojiro-san offers.

_ 'Okay, who are you and what have you done with Sojiro to know and be seemingly fond of someone my age...unless you only hated me at the beginning' _ I think, nodding slowly.

"Tell him there's still chai for him at Leblanc next time you see him." He smiles, seeming rather happy, leaving me utterly confused. "Well then, I'll lock up and see you tomorrow." He says, heading out.

"What was that about?" Morgana asks bewildered.

"I wish I knew." I sigh, rubbing my temple after I hear the door close and head upstairs to the storage room attic that currently served as my bedroom.

 


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Compiling the Evidence

Tuesday, June 14th

*Akechi's P.O.V*

I slapped the snooze button on my alarm, growling as pain shot through my hand. I lifted it up to my face as I cracked my eyes open, there was a noticeable purple tone to part of my hand.

"Great..." I groaned, happy I normally wore gloves so Kaito-kun wouldn't worry. I actually had bruised my hand when I slammed it against the table last night. "Damn, I really did lose my cool last night, guess this morning will be running instead of cycling." I murmured,  _ 'I only lost my cool because he's a good asset and consultant on cases I'm having trouble with...and friend, that gave me a second chance after he realized I was using him...and didn't even threaten to go to the media, or even ask the big question I knew he wanted to...' _ "And that's the cue to get out of my head, and bed for that matter." I mutter before doing exactly that to head out for a morning run before heading to school.

*Akira's P.O.V*

The alarm on my phone went off, I groaned shutting it off. I rubbed my eyes of sleep, before sitting up with a start, remembering that student council president found out about the Phantom Thieves. 

"Do we have to meet up with her after school?" I groaned, both dreading and curious as to who her target was.

"Don't forget, boss wanted you to talk to that kid who was with the stupid detective yesterday." Morgana sighs, next to me on my bed.

"Oh, yeah..." I sigh, really hoping this isn't something I'll have to deal with until I'm done dealing with whatever Makoto-senpai wants.

"Well, let's get ready and head out." Morgana smirks, hoping off my bed, me following in suit and getting ready.

***

I was looking around the platform for that kid 'Sasaki-kun...was it?' I thought, before spotting him. He was leaning against a wall, on his phone, in a spot with a less dense amount of people. I starting heading over.

"His name's Sasaki Kaito, and he's the same year as you, if I'm remembering correctly." Morgana reminds.

"Thanks." I murmur, reaching the shorter boy. "Um, Sasaki-kun?" I ask, the boy quickly looked up, before pocketing his phone.

"Kurusu-kun." He greets with a bow of his head, though keeping his eyes to the ground, standing straighter against the wall. "You s-spoke with Akechi-senpai yes-yesterday, is there something you n-need?" He asks, stuttering slightly. 

_ 'Jeez, just how shy  _ **_is_ ** _ this boy?' _ I thought, sighing. "Well um, you came up in a bit of small talk between Sojiro-san and I, and he wanted me to let you know there's still chai for you at Leblanc." I relay to him, though not missing how his head snapped up enough for me to see his storm cloud eye as soon as I mentioned Boss.

He smiles slightly. "Thanks, and t-tell Soji-san I'll b-be there as u-usual." He smiles, making me blink in shock.

"Soji-san...?" Morgana asks.

"Can I pet him?" Sasaki-kun asks energetically, reminding me Morgana sounded like a cat to normal people, as the boy was now looking around my arm to Morgana, who'd poked his head out of the bag.

"Umm, sure." I said, a little shocked ‘does he have.

Sasaki-kun put his hand up to Morgana's face to let Morgana sniff him like a normal cat would, and thankfully Morgana did, after which he started petting Morgana gently. "Are you taking him to the vet by Shujin?" He asks, smiling as he pets Morgana, who seemed to actually be enjoying it by the lack of teeth and claws.

"Uh, yeah." I lie, wondering how he knew my school, then wondering when he'd gotten a good enough look at my uniform to tell.

"Why? There doesn't seem to be anything wrong with him, though he does have some really pretty eyes." He asked, looking at Morgana as much as he could without moving or taking him out of the bag.

"He's, uh, got an upset stomach." I lied again, happy Sasaki-kun moved his hand to scratch Mona's neck, making him purr before he could counter that lie.

"Oh, poor thing, did he throw up?" He asks worriedly, using both hands to scratch mona's neck and under his collar, making Mona purr louder, and seem almost like putty in the kid's hands.

"Yeah.." I continue, not knowing why I didn't just tell him I was taking Mona to school with me at this point.

"Haha, of course there's an animal involved for you to be so friendly so quickly." A voice chuckled from the side, Sasaki-kun seeming to jump a little as all of our heads snap over, to see none other than Akechi Goro, Ace Detective

*Kaito's P.O.V*

"Haha, of course there's an animal involved for you to be so friendly so quickly." A voice chuckled from the side, making me jump slightly as we all looked, though just seeing Akechi-senpai.

"Heh heh, you caught me red-handed. But, just look at him, he's so cute, and his eyes are so pretty." I smile, as I pull my hands away from the cat's face, causing him to shake his head and look to me with his unique blue eyes. Akechi-senpai blinked in shock at them,  _ 'heh, the cat and Akechi senpai are a little alike, they both have unique, beautiful eyes, and they're both quite adorable at times' _ I quickly looked down, feeling my cheeks burn slightly at my thoughts.

"Anyway, why are you taking him with you to school you?" Akechi-senpai asks Kusuru-kun

"He's taking him to the vet near Shujin, apparently the poor thing threw up this morning." I answer for him, though pretty I was sure it was a lie. Considering I knew  Soji-san, and even though he had a soft spot for small and furry animals, if one threw up in his beloved cafe, he wouldn't let it back in the house for at least three days. Even if it had done so in the attic, where Kusuru-kun was probably staying, since I'd never heard his name before yesterday, and I'd known Soji-san for almost 6 years now, well all that plus his unsureness of his voice in his answers. Though, since he didn't go to Aoyama, or like he'd be a suspect in Akechi-senpai's current cases, I just left it alone and covered for him.

"Oh, well, I hope he feels better soon." Akechi smiles, and his smile was actually slightly more honest than that stupid TV smile I constantly saw, only slightly though...

"Me too, though we should probably head to the spots to catch our trains, it was nice talking to you both." Kusuru-kun smiles before heading off. I nod as he leaves and Akechi-senpai and I head off too.

*Akira's P.O.V*

"You should probably watch out for him, he's probably sharper than he looks if he and that stupid detective are friends. And he'll probably show up at the cafe if Sojiro-san knows him well enough to ask you to talk to him." Morgana warns as we head off to my train.

"I know, I know." I sigh, thinking 'this really couldn't wait till after Makoto-senpai's thing'. "Anyway, we'll have to focus on him later, until the bit with the student council president is dealt with at least."

"Hopefully he'll wait that long to pop up." Morgana sighs as if reading my mind, before hiding in my bag as I stepped on the train.

*Akechi's P.O.V*

Kaito-kun and I get on our train as he gives me a seat while he stands, as was usual if there only one seat. I'd quickly learned not to fight him on this.

"So, Kaito-kun, I noticed you were blushing slightly after you pointed out the cat's eyes to me, was the feline really that cute?" I smirk, chuckling as he gasps slightly and looks away, even the tops of ears tinting pink this time  _ 'he's so cute when he-wait, why am I thinking this?!' _ I quickly shake my head, looking to my lap, only to feel my chin gently being lifted up, only to be met with Kaito-kun's face a couple inches from mine, his hand being what lifted my chin. 

His storm cloud eye narrowed. "How much sleep did you get last night?" He asks fatly, though annoyance lacing his features.

_ 'Damn, I forgot he can always tell when I don't get enough sleep faster than I can tell on him'  _ "Umm, would you believe 7 hours?" I chuckle a little nervously, I hadn't had the time to even try hiding the sleep deprivation under my eyes with make-up this morning.

His hand dropped back to his side with a sigh before he snorted, pretty much in my face considering he hadn't moved his. "I'd believe half that." He groans annoyedly. 

"Fine, four and a half, maybe five." I sigh, giving in.

"It'll be another 45 minutes before we reach our stop, try to rest and I'll tell you when we get there." He sighs, finally pulling back and reaching in his bag, pulling out a pair of dark sunglasses and handing them to me.

"How can you hide it so much better than me?" I mutter angrily, taking the sunglasses, once again knowing better than to fight him.

"Cause I'm better at make-up than you, now try to get some sleep." He retorts, reminding me of his above average hearing, as I sigh annoyedly before putting on the sunglasses and leaning back, trying to get some rest, though wondering how much sleep he got, since he was rarely better than me on this count.

***

*After School*

***

To my only slight surprise, Kaito-kun actually had woken me up once we reached our stop, though the look on his face said that if we didn't have school, he would've just let me sleep and stayed on the train with me until I woke up on my own. I was headed to the auditorium to talk to Kaito-kun during his theatre club since I actually had a little free time before I had to head to work for once. I poked my head into the auditorium, smirking when I saw all the actors there, meaning Kaito-kun was most likely in the workshop finishing up certain props and such since he'd chosen not to act in this play. I head down to the workshop, which was actually just a classroom none of the teacher's wanted to teach in cause they could never get the heating and air conditioning to work. Thankfully the school had enough other classrooms, and some clubs wanted to use it for activities that may be a little messy, the only rule was that you had to clean up the room to spotless conditions after using it. I got to the room and what I heard made my blood freeze before it started to boil. 

"Hey, Kaito-chin." Yuno smirks. I bite back a growl and pull out the recording pen, turning it on and slipping it into the crack in the door.

"Please don't call me that." Kaito-kun smiles, trying to be polite.

"What  _ Kaito  _ or  _ chin _ ?" She giggles, I clenched my jaw in an effort to stay quiet, the evidence I could obtain from this could be crucial.

"I'd prefer  _ Sasaki-kun _ , but at least  _ Sasaki  _ would be would nice." He sighs, annoyance starting to bleed into his words.

"Awe, I thought we were closer than-"

"We're not, what do you want Takeya-senpai?" Kaito-kun deadpans, cutting her off, making me wonder what happened for his patience to run out so quickly, considering I'd seen him keep a smile on his face and stay polite and courteous with a classman even I could barely stand for far longer.

"It's rude to cut off those above you." She snaps irritably.

"And it's rude to knock out first years during dodgeball because you don't like them." He retorts  _ ‘oh...that’s why his patience is thin’ _ .

"You know, I  _ could  _ spread a rumor for one of your little secrets." She hisses

"And I  _ could _ report to the guidance counselor how many underclassmen you've knocked out in dodgeball." He spat back.

"And  _ I  _ could tell  _ Akechi-kun _ about your  _ late night jobs _ ." She taunts, I swear I could hear her smirking through her voice. I froze, unable to move  _ 'what the hell is she talking about, and why is Kaito-kun too scared to tell me on his own' _ .

"Y-you wouldn't, I-I'm too useful." Kaito tries to counter, but it was obvious Yuno had played her trump card, and it worked.

"Not if you turn your back on me. I can just see it, with him being a detective, he couldn't stay close to you. With what you do, not that anyone would wanna be friends with a freak like you anyway." She smirks. It hurt to know I was part of the reason he was going through this.

"I don't have the time to do all your homework Takeya-senpai." He sighs in defeat. But, I hated the bit of joy that came knowing I was so important to him, even if he didn't trust me enough to tell me himself.

"Oh, I don't need all of it, I just need you to do my math and English, and take care of the dress Ana-sensei wanted me to patch up for the play." She smirks with a chuckle, then the rustling of paper, which I assumed was the work she wanted him to do. "It was nice talking to you  _ Kaito-chin _ ." She smirks

"Why does anyone with the slightest bit of power use it to trample on and use those without any?" He murmurs. Pain shot through me, cause I'd done the same, used my popularity and charisma to turn him into an informant. I thank whatever god, or very possibly demon, that's on my side he gave me a second chance.

"Because, that's just the way the world works,  _ Kaito-chin _ ." she chuckles, before heading to the door, making me quickly back up, turning off the pen and act as if I'd just been walking up to the room.

"Oh Akechi-kun, what are you doing here?" Yuno smiles sweetly, and as much as I wanted to punch her in the face and drag her to the principal's office with the evidence, I took a breath and put on one of my best TV smiles to greet her.

"I'm here to talk with Kaito-kun." I smile

"He's busy, maybe you could speak with me." She smiles, now leaning against the wall.

_ 'Oh, I'll be talking with you tomorrow' _ I think, forcing my face to keep the Detective Prince smile. "He offered to help me with something." I say, trying to go around her.

"I'm sure I could do a better job." She smiles, stepping in my way

_ 'Ha! Since you're getting lower classmen to do your homework, I doubt you have the intelligence to help me with even my easiest cases' _ I think with a sigh. "I also offered to help him with the bed prop for the play." I smile, remembering he said he might help with it a week ago while walking around Yuno and slipping in the room before she could stop me again. My TV smile fell to a snicker as I heard her make a somewhat quiet, but definitely frustrated noise. I heard another snicker behind me as I closed the door. 

"She's a handful and an annoying one at that." I chuckle, looking to Kaito-kun, seeing he was standing by his bag, probably having just put Yuno's extra work in there.

"You have no idea." He mutters, shaking his head.

_ 'You're right, I don't...' _ I think, deciding to confront him on this tomorrow as well and try to just cheer him up for now. "So, um, do need help with the bed, I remember that you said you might need a hand a while ago." I smile

Kaito-kun looked a bit shocked, probably not expecting me to remember. "Uh, yeah, actually I need help with the main canopy part. Can you grab the metal circle and the curtains and well, put the curtains on it while I screw in the supports?" He smiles. "Oh, warning, they're kinda heavy, especially the curtains." He adds in as I head over, and grabbed them, and then nearly fell over due to the still unexpected weight of the curtains.

"What the hell are these made of, fabric bricks?" I asked after nearly falling.

"I-pfft-tried to warn you." Kaito-kun smirks while trying, and failing, to hide his snickers.

"Quit laughing." I retort, which only made him fully bust out laughing, earning a glare from me.

"S-sorry, it's just that I almost fell when I first tried to move them too." He smirks, making me sigh annoyedly. "But, they're so heavy cause they're meant to replicate the curtains nobility and royalty had back before central heating was a thing, so they're heavy enough to keep out light, most sound, and keep in some heat." He smiles

"Oh, well that's interesting, but wouldn't cutting off sound possibly get in the way of the scenes?" I ask, a bit curious.

"Not for this play, this actually some scenes where it's important the main character can't hear what's being said." He explains as I get into a better position to lift and carry the supplies to a better spot.

"That's pretty cool actually." I smirk, setting the stuff down and starting to help.

Kaito-kun and I work quietly until I start helping him put the curtains up. The bed was a circular canopy bed, however, due to how it was built, the curtains wouldn't go over the top like normal. Instead, they just hung from supports in a band around the top, the bar the four curtains were on would hang from the spots the curtains separated. We were putting the bar on the last support when I moved my hand wrong and hit the bruise from last night, causing me to let go and making Kaito-kun to nearly drop it, but he caught it and seemed to have also caught his hand between the bar and the back of the band holding the supports. 

"Did you hurt your hand?" He asks worriedly, rubbing his knuckles after wiggling his hand out of where it'd gotten wedged between the bar and the back of the band, though, I noticed he had band-aids over the knuckles of the hand that hadn't gotten caught.

"Not really I just moved my hand wrong, it's fine not." I kind of lied, while holding my still throbbing hand.

"If you're gonna lie while you're in pain, you should learn how to relax your jaw and shoulders better." He sighs annoyedly.

_ 'For being somewhat easy to manipulate, he can spot a liar incredibly easy, maybe that's why he called me out so quickly' _ I think with a sigh. "Only if you tell me what those band-aids came from." I smirk.

"Fine." He sighs, looking away slightly. "I got mad and punched my locker."

He was probably lying, he probably got mad at the notes on his locker I heard about last night and tore them off, but I decided not to push it, for now at least. "I got mad at a case last night and slammed my hand on my desk, and managed to bruise my hand." I sigh, which was pretty much the truth, it just wasn't an official case.

"You're passion is going to get you seriously injured one of these days." Kaito-kun sighs, shaking his head.

"Same with you and your hidden recklessness." I smirk in response, crossing my arms. Kaito-kun just huffs, looking to the side and crossing his arms in response, making me have to suppress a chuckle before an alarm on my phone went off.

"Oh, I must be going now, that's my alarm telling me to get to work." I sigh, he's was pretty much the only person that made me not want to go to work.

"Well, get going, I don't want you getting in trouble for being late, even if I think they work you too hard." He smiles with a wave.

"Heh, they can't help needing the help of someone so good, even if I'm just a rookie. See you tomorrow." I smirk back with a wave before heading out, I could hear him chuckle and imagine his playful eye roll as I left.

 

*Kaito's P.O.V*

"Heh, they can't help needing the help of someone so good, even if I'm just a rookie. See you tomorrow."  The handsome detective smirks as he leaves, making me chuckle as he left.

"He's lucky and smart to be able to regain my trust after starting out using me for information. I still need to ask him how he found out my favorite sweet in three days." I mutter with a slight chuckle after hearing the door click shut, walking over to where the circular mattress was and flopping down onto it. I was incredibly glad I gave the detective a second chance too after I'd called him on what he was doing, he hadn't done it since and he'd proven to be a far more trustworthy and dependable friend than I'd been expecting or all except one other friend.  _ 'I should try talking to her a couple times again soon, even if she probably won't answer' _ I think, my smile faltering as I remembered the one other friend, she'd completely shut down after her mom died. Though I smiled again, realizing Akechi-senpai hadn't put on a TV smile once while we were hanging out, I hated it when he used those around me,]. I could always see right through them after I saw his first real one after I'd agreed to give him a second chance as long as he swore not to use me like that again. I groaned as my phone went off, reminding me I had work too, I knew I should tell Akechi-senpai everything, the bullying, my late night jobs, why I was doing them. I was pretty sure he wouldn't judge me, hell, he seemed to care enough to possibly even try to help.  _ 'But, I can't put any more on his plate and add to his stress, plus... It's not like I deserve help, why should I deserve to get saved, when I'm useless to save anyone I care about...' _ I think with a sigh getting up and grabbing my phone, catching a glance of one of the scars on my wrist under my sleeve as I did so before grabbing my bag and heading out, locking the door on the way. Happy I'd least be seeing him tomorrow,  _ 'oh, I saw him talking to his college’s little sister a couple days ago at cram school, early in the morning, I'll have to ask him how that went tomorrow' _ I remember with a smile, heading to work.

  
  
  



End file.
